“I think Mike [Kelley] is arguably the key individual who changed the world’s perception of Los Angeles art,” Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles chief curator Paul Schimmel said yesterday, responding to the news of the artist’s death at the age of 57. For nearly four full decades, Kelley was a vital figure in the city, creating finely crafted, “abject” art that could be prickly or tender, aggressive or strangely vulnerable. Often it was all those things at once. In the accompanying slide show, we take a brief, incomplete look at some of his major works, installations and collaborations with other artists.
[...] I hate to get started on a sad note but brilliant artist Mike Kelley died earlier this week. GalleristNY has an article reporting on his death but centering on his life here, and a slide show of some of his work here. [...]